A picture tells a 1000 words, but the words count all the same

The photo versus the word

Photo: Xeeliz

Inspired by a post by Jim Connolly at Internet Marketing Jam {post now taken down}, that talks about the power of the image, I thought I would take a different spin. Yes, I fully agree that the image grabs the attention and that a photo speaks 1000 words. However, I continue to believe that the word is more fundamental. This is for three reasons:

the words in the title form the headline that truly grabs your attention to begin with

we operate with words, translating images into (1000) words

in a googly world, images need tags in order to be properly found and sorted

Being of the literary variety, I find greater appreciation for good writing, whether it is the pithy 140-character message on Twitter, a crafted bio on Linkedin or a tidy blog post. And, yes, I think any good blog post should be accompanied by a telling photo.

I fully agree with you Minter: we see better if what we can talk about what we see!
However the success of a "pictures with (hardly any) caption words" site like pinterest is amazing. What do you think?

http://www.themyndset.com Minter Dial

I am not yet a pinterest client… but the concept is clearly neat and engaging. There is no doubt that a picture is a fabulous communication tool. Facebook's success is in part based on the ease with which people can share their photos. The intention behind my post is that the word (take "pinterest") can say it all, too! In a Google-dominated world, we still need titles, text and tags. There is no intention to oppose one versus the other. It's just that photos need to be supported by words in the current organization and systems online.